Jan. 5, 2008

SOUTH GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas -- The No. 21 Navy wrestling team opened the dual portion of its schedule by sandwiching a win over Columbia (31-9) between a pair of losses to No. 19 Oklahoma (28-6) and No. 14 Wisconsin (23-12) Saturday at the Lone Star Duals in South Grand Prairie, Texas.

"We lost to two ranked teams today and in looking back, I think we wrestled the uniform a little bit," said Navy head coach Bruce Burnett. "Our intensity level wasn't quite there. I don't think we competed quite as hard of as we should have. It wasn't a bad effort, but it goes back to us winning those close matches. If you go back and look at the results, you'll see how close we were."

Navy opened the day with a deceiving 28-6 loss against Oklahoma. Though the Mids came away with just two individual wins, Navy lost three of the eight matches by two or fewer points. Brian Helton held off Navy junior Joe Baker (Poway, Calif.), 6-5, at 133 pounds, while eighth-ranked Will Rowe used his 1:43 riding time to earn a 6-5 decision over Navy senior Spencer Manley (Chattanooga, Tenn.) at 149 pounds. Second-year standout Glenn Shober (Reading, Pa.) put up a fight at 141 pounds, but 11th-ranked Zack Bailey took the match, 7-5. Navy All-American Matt Stolpinski (Westfield, Mass.) , ranked No. 9 nationally, earned the first of three wins on the day by edging Jeff James, 3-2. Meanwhile, senior Ed Prendergast (St. Louis, Mo.), who has won titles in each of the last two tournaments in which he has competed and is ranked seventh in the country, earned an overtime victory over 14th-ranked Nathan Fernandez, 4-2.

The Mids had little time to reflect on their opening match, as they were sent back to the mat to face EIWA foe Columbia. Navy extended its winning streak to 23 in a row against the Lions, winning seven of the 10 matches, including four extra-point bouts. The Mids earned six points at the 174, 184 and 197-pound classes. Stolpinski pinned Andy Geving at 3:51, while senior Matt Parsons (Dunkirk, Md.), who has battled injury in recent weeks, earned the win by fall over Ray Resnick. Junior Tyler Moyer (Bremerton, Wash.) didn't even have to break a sweat to help award the Mids six points as Columbia's Nick Sommerfeld was unable to compete because of injury. Navy's fourth extra-point win was by Baker, who easily defeated Jerome Greco, 15-1. Additionally, junior Joel Ahern (Herkimer, N.Y.) returned to the mat at 157 pounds to take a 4-0 win over Matt Dunn, while rookie Matt DeMichiel (Whitesboro, N.Y.) produced the first of two wins on the day behind a 4-1 decision over Joe Kushnerick.

In its final match of the day, Navy was tripped up by the Badgers who won seven of the 10 matches against Navy, but earned just two extra-point wins. Stolpinski completed his 3-0 sweep of the day by defeating Justin Peterson, 7-3, while Manley earned a 4-1 triumph over Kendall Vogel for his first win over the day. Meanwhile, DeMichiel pinned Wisconsin's Dan Clum at 3:44 to give Navy and extra three points. Baker once again was bitten by the oh-so-close bug, as he nearly knocked off 18th-ranked Zach Tanelli. Tanelli, for the second time this year, edged Baker, 3-2. Moyer also put up a great fight in his match against No. 7 Dallas Herbst who earned a point for his escape in what would be the final outcome. Junior heavyweight Scott Steele (Baltimore, Md.) wrestled for the Mids in the finale, but it was No. 15 Kyle Massey who would go on to win the match, 3-1.

The Midshipmen return to action on Thursday when they play host to their first home dual of the season, a 7:00 matchup against in-state rival Maryland. Takedown Radio will broadcast the match live from Halsey Field House. Navy will then make the short trek to Washington, D.C. where the Mids will square off against American a 7:00 pm.

"We have two tough duals this week beginning with Maryland at home on Thursday," added Burnett. "I'm looking forward to getting back to Annapolis and wrestling in front of our fans."

Oklahoma 28, Navy 6
125 - Joey Fio (OU) dec Allan Stein (N), 13-8
133 - Brian Shelton dec Joe Baker (N), 6-5
141 - #11 Zack Bailey (OU) dec Glenn Shober (N), 7-5
149 - #8 Will Rowe (OU) dec Spencer Manley (N), 3-0 RT
157 - Chad Terry (OU) dec Joel Ahern (N), 8-2 RT
165 - #12 Max Dean (OU) dec Matt DeMichiel (N), 8-4 RT
174 - #9 Matt Stolpinski (N) dec Jeff James (OU), 3-2
184 - #7 Josh Weitzel (OU) major Matt Parsons, 14-6 RT
197 - #5 Joel Flaggert (OU) fall Tyler Moyer (N), 2:37
HWT - #7 Ed Prendergast (N) dec #14 Nathan Fernandez (OU), 4-2 TB2
Navy 31, Columbia 9
125 - #17 Brandon Kinney (C) dec Allan Stein (N), 9-3
133 - Joe Baker (N) major Jerome Greco (C), 15-1
141 - Sal Tirico (C) dec Glenn Shober (N), 2-0
149 - Anthony Constantino (C) dec Spencer Manley (N), 5-4
157 - Joel Ahern (N) dec Matt Dunn (C), 4-0
165 - Matt DeMichiel (N) dec Joe Kushnerick (C), 4-1
174 - #9 Matt Stolpinski (N) fall Andy Geving (C), 3:51
184 - Matt Parsons (N) fall Ray Resnick (C), 1:22
197 - Tyler Moyer (N) inj. default Nick Sommerfeld (C)
HWT - #7 Ed Prendergast (N) dec Jed Wade (C), 4-2
Wisconsin 23, Navy 12
125 - Colin Cudd (W) dec Allan Stein (N), 10-4
133 - #18 Zach Tanelli (W) dec Joe Baker (N), 3-2
141 - #8 Kyle Ruschell (W) major Glenn Shober (N), 10-0
149 - Spencer Manley (N) dec Kendall Vogel (C), 4-1 RT
157 - #2 Craig Henning (W) major Joel Ahern (N), 8-0 RT
165 - Matt DeMichiel (N) fall Dan Clum (W), 3:44
174 - #9 Matt Stolpinski (N) dec Justin Peterson (W), 7-3
184 - #11 Trevor Brandvold (W) dec Matt Parsons (N), 7-3 RT
197 - #7 Dallas Herbst (W) dec Tyler Moyer (N), 1-0
HWT - #15 Kyle Massey (W) dec Scott Steele (N), 3-1

### Go Navy ###